September 20, 2018 (Brockville, ON) –The Upper Canada District School Board(UCDSB) is pleased to report that the EQAO provincial assessment scores show improvement in multiple areas of learning for our students. Each year, these assessments offer insights about how Ontario students are meeting or have surpassed the provincial standard for achievement. The provincial standard is where students achieve a score of Level 3 (or at least 70 per cent or higher) on the assessment.

The latest results show that our Grade 9 applied mathematics scores are up a significant 8 per cent to 43 per cent of our students achieving the provincial standard. For Grade 9 academic mathematics, 77 per cent of students have met or exceeded the provincial standard.

Over the past five years Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test results for UCDSB students have fluctuated, with scores as high as 75 per cent in 2014-15. In 2017-18, 69 per cent of our students successfully met the provincial standard; a decline of 5 per cent from the previous (2016-17) year.

Mathematics scores at the Grade 3 level have improved over last year’s results by 2 per cent with 54 per cent of our students meeting the provincial standard, whereas mathematics scores at the Grade 6 level have remained the same at 39 per cent.

Elementary students in Grade 3 and Grade 6 are also progressing well in their abilities to read at the provincial standard, with assessment scores up 4 per cent to 71 per cent and up 3 per cent to 80 per cent respectively.

“Every child comes to us at a different stage in their educational journey, and this is reflected in what they show us in their daily learning and on annual assessments like EQAO. I am proud of the work our staff does every day to help our young people grow as learners,” says Chair Jeff McMillan.

“Our schools look closely at the information provided by the comprehensive assessments from EQAO. Wherever possible, principals and teachers incorporate these findings from last year into school level planning for 2018-2019,” states Stephen Sliwa, Director of Education for the UCDSB. “We know that this data is best examined alongside other factors that influence student achievement, which will be our approach for improving outcomes that we are seeking for our students in mathematics and literacy for this school year."